Preggers
by Gilmoremarianodanes
Summary: From my series of one-shots, a nine-part story because Rory and Jess are having a baby! From family issues to bra malfunctions, it's not going to all be smooth sailing. Luckily they both still have each other, and that's really all they need.
1. Chapter 1

**So this started of as a one-shot set in nine different pieces, but it kind of got away from me. Instead of being cute 500 word bits (like this one), we were looking at 12K+ for the whole story. So I've decided to put it up as a nine-parter. It's still part of my series of one-shots, and I hope you enjoy it!**

One Month

As the presenter waffled on about the integrity and elegance of the night's award recipient, Rory Gilmore-Mariano found herself failing spectacularly at paying attention. She was a little restless, and a whole lot tired. The last week had been particularly exhausting, though it was no different in workload. No, the afternoon naps and early nights were a direct result of the early stages of pregnancy. Adjusting her dark purple cocktail dress, her fidgeting was stilled for the moment by a large male hand on her own.

"It's past your bedtime, isn't it?" Jess whispered into her ear.

"I really can't handle these things sober either," she added, gesturing at the scotch in front of him and Chris' martini.

"You could've just stayed home."

"Wanted to come. Missed you." That much was true. With Rory's hours at the _Times_ combined with her falling asleep at eight, the two had barely seen each other. Wrapping an arm around her, Jess just rolled his eyes at his wife's enthusiastic clapping as the speech ended.

"Okay, time to network," Chris said as he noticed his friends getting especially coupley, "That publisher we wanted to talk to is here tonight, I reckon if we hit him with enough booze he'll take a look at Ryan's work."

"Booze sounds like a plan. Same again, gang?" At Chris and Rory's nods Jess made his way to the bar. Ordering the drinks didn't take long, and soon enough he was back at the table. Rory looked like she was minutes away from falling asleep, and he hoped the Coke might wake her up a little. He was trying to get her to avoid caffeine altogether, but after an extensive trip down a Google search page it was decided that the occasional cup of coffee or soda wasn't doing any harm.

"I love martinis, they make me feel so James Bond," Chris sighed happily as he sipped. Rory's head was now on Jess' shoulder, her eyes closed momentarily. The entire thing was setting off alarm bells in his head though he wasn't sure why, "what's your poison tonight anyway, Gilmore?"

"Oh, uh… just a regular rum and coke. Was hoping the caffeine would keep me awake."

"No such luck," Jess teased.

"I guess not," Chris agreed, then suddenly made a lunge for her drink. Sipping it he realised his suspicions were correct, "There's no rum in here! Rory Gilmore, you're pregnant!"

"Please say that louder, I'm not sure the journalist in the corner heard you," Jess growled.

"Sorry man. But you are, aren't you?" Chris looked from the pair, waiting to see who would crack first. He wasn't surprised when Rory nodded. "I knew it! Oh my god, I'm going to be an uncle! Why didn't you say anything?"

"You would've found out in a few weeks when we told your girlfriend. It's just… really early," Jess explained, and Chris nodded.

"Wait, does that mean I can't tell April?"

"That's exactly what it means." At Jess' words Chris couldn't stop a scoff.

"You've met me before, right? I couldn't even keep you proposing a secret, and I didn't even technically know!"

"Please, Chris," Rory pleaded, her wide blue eyes in full-on 'Bambi mode'.

"Maybe if I get drunk enough tonight I'll forget about it completely," he conceded, making his friends smile.


	2. Two Months

**So this was the point I realised this was going to be more than one chapter. Trying to squeeze all of this into 500 words didn't work. Also if you're unfamiliar with my stories I've got an original character in this one, her name is Beth and she's Jess' very good friend/kind of ex. The story 'Mark and Beth' has her as a full character if you're interested as to why she calls Jess 'Mary'.**

Two Months 

After a Friday Night Dinner consisting of surprisingly few jabs at Jess from Emily and the offering of blurry photos of an ultrasound, Rory and Jess were heading to Boston Saturday morning. It was strange that four of the most important people to them were in the same city, but it made delivering the news of the pregnancy a lot easier. Which was good, considering the situation between Jess Mariano and Christopher Hayden.

His own Chris had tagged along, looking forward to spending a weekend with April and finally spill the beans on the baby news. He'd been avoiding her for the past month or so, fear of his friends' wrath if he even hinted at any kind of conception. The chances of him having to apologise profusely were highly likely, so it mightn't be the fun and romantic few days that he was hoping for.

"It's not too late to turn around now," Jess offered, a little hopefully. Rory smiled sadly, knowing very well her own father was the reason for his trepidation.

"I know you and dad don't get along, but-"

"Wait, you think it's about that?"

"It's not?"

"Hell no. I could live the rest of my life knowing the guy hates me. Whatever, his prerogative. I just don't get how you can be so forgiving about him refusing to attend your wedding."

" _Our_ wedding, Jess. You were there, all pretty in a suit and everything."

"Not the point I was making, Ror. It shouldn't have mattered who you were marrying, he's your dad. That should've been enough for him to bury the hatchet and make an appearance."

"I'm siding with Jess here," Chris offered from the backseat, "God, even fucking Jimmy showed up."

"Dad apologised for it, and I get his reasons. It was less about you and a lot to do with Luke, you know that right?" Rory felt bad that her dad still judged Jess as the person he was over a decade ago. Still, she knew it wasn't the only reason he didn't attend. After needling him about it he finally admitted the inability to be in the room with both the man who broke his daughter's wrist and the one who stole Lorelai away from him. The fact that Jess was Luke's nephew didn't help either. It was childish, but Rory understood. Somewhat.

"You're a much better person than all of us combined," Chris said sagely, and Jess had to agree.

* * *

In the end, it was decided that Rory would tell Christopher alone. There was less of a chance of anyone getting punched that way, and it lowered her stress levels immensely. Telling April had gone smoothly (she already suspected it after Chris' silent treatment act, which she forgave easily). Jess was going to hang at her place for a while, much to the delight of her housemate Bridget who was a very big fan of his. Driving Jess' car to the café, Rory wondered if this was a good idea. She loved her dad, but something about telling him she was pregnant terrified her. The thought of his disapproval again made her heart sink.

He was waiting for her inside, and she was thankful he was without Gigi. She loved her ten-year-old little sister, but this was going to be hard enough to tell him without an audience asking questions. Grinning at the sight of his daughter, Christopher stood to meet her. Pulling her into a hug, he sized her up.

"No Jess today?" He asked casually, as though he didn't practically hate the guy. Chris knew his dislike of Jess was irrational, judging him from a few stories he'd heard from Lorelai when he dated Rory as a teenager. He wanted to argue that leopards didn't change their spots, but it would make him the most hypocritical cat in the jungle.

"He's spending time with April, they get along freakily well."

"So what, he's left you doing this whole pregnancy announcement thing on your own?"

"How does everyone keep guessing that?" Rory asked shrilly.

"This is the first time you've come to Boston for lunch since you got married. I figured it was big news, and I pieced the rest together."

"There's a reason I don't come for lunch anymore, dad." She said warningly.

"Right, that punk kid's got you hating me."

"You're kidding, right? It's not about Jess, it's never been about Jess! He said it this morning, I'm still so mad at you for not coming to our wedding. Forget it being our wedding even, it was _my_ wedding. Your daughter!"

"I promise I'll be at the next one, kid." The small smile he gave at his little joke, it infuriated her.

"There isn't going to be a next one! This is it! And on the off-chance I'm wrong, so what? You're going to hate your future grandkid because it shares DNA with Luke?"

"I think you mean Jess."

"Like I said, this has never been about Jess. It's not like you to hate someone for something they did half a lifetime ago, you know that too. This is because Luke got mom and Jess is practically his son. Because I asked Luke to walk me down the aisle and not you!" They were both reminded of another instance where she yelled at him like this, in his apartment after calling Lorelai for help with Gigi.

"Did he? Did he walk you down the aisle?"

"No, it was grandpa."

"Good. Rory, I'm really sorry. God, I wish it were easier than it is. It just hurts, you know?" Rory nodded, though she was still hurting. She always had a second chance or four when it came to her father.

"I know things didn't work out the way you wanted, but I don't want you to take it out on Jess, or our child."

"I would never-"

"Good. You should visit sometime, something tells me you'll be a pretty cool granddad."

"Thanks for that reminder of my increasing age. I have a kid still in elementary school!"

* * *

It was now time for the last stop on their Boston trip, and perhaps the weirdest. They'd called Paris a few days earlier to check her schedule and surprisingly she'd taken the weekend off. Less surprising was the reason why, but it was what made the situation all the more unusual.

"If she makes any jokes about having sex with me, I'm leaving," Jess said gruffly as they climbed the stairs to her apartment.

"Which one?" Rory giggled at her husband's look of surprise.

"Paris, Rory!" His eyes widened suddenly. "Oh god, you don't they'll both do it, do you?"

"Beth generally avoids mentioning you guys being sex buddies, I'm sure she won't. Besides, Paris generally enjoys telling _me_ we've had sex now, not you."

It happened about a year ago. Rory was woken by her friend's panicked voice, announcing that she'd slept with Jess' best friend (and ex-lover) Beth. The fact that the two found each other wasn't that much of a shock, they were both overachievers with a dry sense of humour who gravitated towards similar people. It was more the fact that Paris had never alluded to being interested in women, and that Beth lived in California with her wife. That was when the 'you're sleeping with everyone they've slept with' jokes started, much to the discomfort of three of the four involved. A year later and the two were making cross-country journeys rather regularly.

"You okay?" He asked suddenly, breaking her out of her reverie. It was a question he was asking her several times a day now, and it bugged her sometimes. Right now she knew it was for more reasons than one, her dad being top of the list.

"Probably an hour away from falling asleep, absolutely starving and I really hope Beth's cooking because Paris sucks, but mostly… yeah I'm pretty good."

"Have I told you lately how amazing you are?"

"You should put it in writing."

"Five book dedications not enough for you?"

"Nope."

"Sixth should be out before the Freckle makes an appearance." They were standing on the floor of Paris' apartment.

"That would imply you've finished writing it," at his silence she gasped, "oh my god, you've written another book!" Not wanting to face her questions and gushing praise when she hadn't read a word of it, he knocked on the door. Paris must've been on the other side already because she opened it immediately.

"I could hear you two talking from in here, you know," Paris said sternly, though she was smiling. Hugging her two friends quickly, she allowed them entrance into her home.

"Mary!" A voice echoed from the kitchen. Beth jumped out to greet them, her normally long red hair now a blonde pixie cut. She all but bounced over to Jess, hugging him tightly. Leaving a kiss on his cheek, she inspected his face in her hands. "He's been sleeping properly, hasn't he? Eating?" She addressed these questions to Rory.

"Yes to the food, no on the sleep."

"So it's business as usual!" Giving his cheeks a gentle tap, she pulled Rory in for an equally strong hug. She was surprisingly tough for someone barely five feet tall. "God, I haven't seen you guys since, well… since I got married!" Giving a side glance of an apology to Paris, she saw her girlfriend shrug.

"It wouldn't kill you to visit New York, you know?" Jess was teasing, but it made her frown.

"I've never been. Weird."

"We've got a spare room if you feel like changing that," Rory offered as they all wandered into the living room. Noticing several wine bottles on the table near the snacks she sighed, wishing she had more friends who didn't drink. Jess noticed where her eyes landed and had to stifle a laugh.

"Please, like I'd pass up an opportunity to stay in a New York hotel. Any chance to make my life more like _Home Alone 2_. So are we feeling red or white right now?" Beth gestured at the various bottles on the table, while Paris turned a perceptive eye on her best friend. She had been the only person outside of Rory and Jess themselves that knew they'd been trying to get pregnant. Partly it was because she was a doctor with experiences in similar things, but for Rory it was primarily to rant about the fact that it was taking so long to actually happen. In fact, the very astute Doctor Geller was piecing together the fact that it had been about two months since she'd had a phone call complaining about fertility.

"We're having lamb so save the merlot for dinner. Chardonnay for three of us, soda for Katherine Heigl over there," Paris offered with a wry smile. It took Rory a second.

"You just referenced a Judd Apatow movie."

"And yet the world keeps turning."

"Mind filling in those of us without a perfect IQ in pop culture?" Beth asked curiously as she picked at the pretzels.

"Katherine Heigl is the lead in the 2007 stoner comedy 'Knocked Up'. Which Rory definitely is," Paris answered smugly. Beth looked from her and back to Rory, then finally to Jess who just shrugged and gave an imperceptible nod. Never one to hide her excitement, she pounced on her best friend and kissed both his cheeks. If it were a few years ago Rory knew she'd be jealous about a beautiful woman hanging off Jess like that, but she'd mellowed in the past few years and knew it was just in Beth's nature to be enthusiastic about everything. In fact, she was the recipient of two big kisses almost immediately after, and the woman's enthusiasm was infectious. Soon all thoughts of her father and the issues with the extended Hayden-Gilmore-Mariano-Danes family tree were forgotten.

* * *

 **Hope my Paris plot twist is somewhat well received. Been planning it for a while. Oh well, happy Pride Month everyone!**


	3. Three Months

Three Months

Attempting to sneak in quietly, Jess closed the door to their apartment softly. It wasn't until he was halfway down the hall that he heard the TV on, and he realised his cautiousness was probably in vain. Entering the living room he saw Rory lying on their couch in exactly the same position she was when he left several hours ago, though now she had a blanket and a bucket sitting on the floor. She was wide awake and watching whatever she'd put on intently, not even noticing his entrance.

"Feel better?" He asked gently as he sat down next to her. Propping her legs into his lap he slid closer, rubbing her calves which earned him an appreciative sigh.

"If I say yes will you believe me?" Looking at her closer, he was going to have to say no. She looked pale and sickly, with dark circles under her eyes. It had been a bad week for her regarding morning sickness, which Jess optimistically suggested could be because it was on its way out. Still today it had been so bad that she took it off from work, which was a first. "That's a no then."

"You look better than you did this morning," that was true. She wasn't breaking out in a cold sweat anymore, which was definitely an improvement, "I should've stayed home."

"I can take care of myself. Look, I had lunch," she pointed at a plate with half-eaten crackers on it. Next to it was the largest water bottle Jess had ever seen, which was mostly empty.

"Speaking of," he grappled with his messenger bag, pulling out a container of clear soup, "this comes from Chris. His family's Polish, this is some kind of chicken concoction he was fed as a child whenever he felt sick. I told him it wasn't the same thing…" He trailed off as he wandered to the kitchen to heat it up.

"Tell him thanks from me. Did you guys have a productive time with your editor?" Rory had never met the official editor of Jess' books, she only knew that his name was Graham and he was a dick. He never attended the parties or releases, as he believed fraternising would cause him to lose his objective edge. It took both Chris and Jess to argue with him on cuts and rewrites, but Rory knew that most of the time he was right. She was a little biased when she tried to critique the unfinished product, so she bowed out of that field with his last book.

Returning with a bowl of hot soup, Jess shrugged. This was his least favourite part of the entire writing process, watching his hard work get torn to shreds. Even if Graham was right almost all the time it still hurt. Especially considering he was a dick. Handing her the tray with the bowl and some utensils, Jess sat back down right next to her. His arm went automatically around her shoulders, noticing for the first time the disembodied head of Amy Poehler on their television.

"Parks and Rec again? Without me?"

"Only what you watched when I fell asleep last night. I can't believe April and Andy got married!" She was eating the soup cautiously, very surprised at how delicious it was. Chris wasn't known as a chef, but part of her knew that his ability to cook an old family recipe was an obvious facet of his personality.

"Better than some stupid will they/won't they crap most shows do." She nodded in agreement, unpausing the show to give it her full attention again. It only lasted for a few minutes, because soon enough she had a thoughtful look on her face. Jess recognised it, and knew he was about to be on the end of whatever questions she'd just thought of. Pausing the show yet again, she turned to him.

"What do you think of Andy?"

"Moronic but harmless, I guess?" He shrugged.

"True, but not what I was asking. What do you think of the name Andy?"

"Uh… it suits the character?" This was a weird conversation, and it didn't really click in his head until she gestured to her still flat stomach, "Oh! Wow, I really wasn't getting the gist of this conversation. Isn't this something we're supposed to talk about in a few months? You know, once there's a gender and better photos of the spawn?"

"Freckle doesn't appreciate being called spawn," she used the nickname he'd given the foetus, "I guess so, but what's the harm in talking about it now?"

"You like Andy, huh? Short for Andrew?" She nodded. "What if it's a girl?"

"Andy." At his look at confusion she continued. "You and I already rock the whole unisex name thing, why can't our kid? Imagine going up to people and saying 'hi, we're Rory, Jess and Andy. Try to guess which one of us is which, the answer may shock you'."

"Unisex." He hadn't thought about a name, beyond the vague idea that at some point they would need one.

"Andy's a boy, Andy's a girl." She explained offhandedly.

"Andrew and… Andrea?" He offered helpfully.

"Oh that's good, there's some DAR potential there. Grandma couldn't get mad at us then!" There was a sparkle in her eye that had been missing for the past few days.

"Your mom might be upset at there being no Lorelai IV."

"Middle name?" She'd eaten all her soup, and was hoping it would stay down.

"Andrea Lorelai Gilmore-Mariano." He tried it out, noticing it was a little wordy. Then again, so was Rory's full name.

"Drop the Gilmore and I'm sold." That surprised him. He'd never begrudged her keeping the Gilmore name, and was a little surprised when she decided to hyphenate it with his own. It wasn't like he was Luke and would be picking up his wife's name any day soon (not due to any gendered reason, more the fact that he disliked most of her family), but he figured she'd want their child to have the hyphen too.

"But that's your name."

"Freckle is all Mariano." He felt his heart flutter at her words. "Andrea Lorelai. Andrew… Lucas?"

"You'll make him cry."

"It fits though, doesn't it?" Though he knew she was talking about the name, it really felt like the sentiment he'd been feeling a lot lately. Them together, a kid on the way. It all fit.

"Yeah… Yeah it does."

* * *

 **So there's the name thing. I like Parks and Rec a lot, it's kind of a bizarro world Stars Hollow. This is also the last one I have chronologically written (six and seven are done too, but I need to post four next obviously). Hopefully that won't take me too long!**


End file.
